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Public Control Advocated by ACIAM: TACCONE Sounds Alarm on Rising Rates in Private Partnerships

AVEZZANO – “Aciam must remain under public control: the possibility established by the statute of a majority of shares to a private partner entails many risks, first and foremost a possible increase in tariffs for waste management services, against which the member municipalities, having become a minority, could do little or nothing”.

In the waste management affair in Marsica, he bursts in, with an interview with Abruzzoweb, Anna Maria Tacconemember of Forza Italia, economist, former candidate for mayor of Forza Italia in the last elections in Avezzano in 2020, and also candidate for the regional elections, again with Forza Italia, on March 10.

But above all, Taccone, from 2019 to 2022, was president of Aciam, the consortium company that manages waste and urban hygiene services in 48 municipalities, and in a catchment area of ​​about 220,000 inhabitants, in the Marsica and also in the Peligna valley and in the L’Aquila area. And which is in a heavy debt situation, for over 2 million euros.

Aciam, of which he is now president Maurizio Bianchinihas been at the center of a political clash and at a crossroads for months: that of modifying the statute, with the provision that a private partner could become the majority shareholder, with the implicit objective of recovery.

And all eyes are obviously focused on the Marsican waste management giant, Tekneko Sistemi Ecologici srl, with its owner from Avezzano, Umberto DiCarlofounded in 1985, which already holds 48.6% of Aciam shares, and which operates in Abruzzo, Lazio and Puglia, with 770 employees, a fleet of 670 vehicles and a turnover of over 50 million euros. of Tekneko. Di Carlo, is very close to the mayor Gianni Di Pangrazio and is very influential, given his economic power, in the most important circles of the city.

Di Carlo would only need a small increase in share capital to reach 51% of Aciam, of which he is already a member of the board of directors, thus being able to take full control of the consortium company, where at present the majority shareholders are the municipalities of the province of L’Aquila and the Mountain Community Unione Comuni Montagna Marsicana, which together hold 51.38% of the share capital, with the Municipality of Avezzano at the top with 12.2% of the shares. Then there is another private shareholder, Segen spa, which however only has 0.02%. The modification of the statute was planned for June, then everything stopped, with the member municipalities that split up, and asked for further technical and legal clarifications, and with the influential municipalities of Celano and Carsoli who however in their councils have already voted against the modification of the statute.

Taccone, before entering into the merits of the controversial affair, must make a necessary premise: “personally, I can say that Aciam is currently in a situation of temporary financial difficulty, and not structural. It is an objective fact that presents problems, but as a business economist, I affirm that there are all the conditions to restore it and put it back on track, protecting the public interest, in terms of governance control, and also employment levels”.

Even more so, Taccone emphasizes, because Aciam is not a bankrupt company, “the debts come largely from investments made over the years, for environmental protection, energy production, technological innovation. And now, however, it is difficult to honor the mortgages taken out with the banks, due to the increase in the cost of raw materials, fuel, and the production cycle as a whole, due to the effects of the pandemic, the Ukrainian crisis, and in short the difficult international situation. Also having an impact is the arrival of large national and international companies that have built gigantic plants and that at this moment are waging a price war, generating a sudden reduction in earnings for Aciam”.

For the rest, “I consider it a jewel of our territory, a perfect example of success in the combination of public management and a strong and reliable private partner. It has the merit, I repeat, of having made important investments, hitting the goals of European policies for the ecological transition. And therefore I believe that the public part must absolutely take on its shoulders the responsibility of supporting such an important enterprise. The hypothesis contained in the statute, with the majority of the shares that can go to a private individual, must be taken into consideration only as a last card to play”.

And so Taccone adds, it could also be “the Abruzzo Region, to take charge of the recovery, intervening with an extraordinary contribution, entering the share capital, substantially compensating for the lowering of revenues in this delicate moment. There are a thousand technical possibilities, what is needed is political will”.

Returning therefore to the change of statute: Taccone’s reasoning is not so much aimed at a possible majority of the shares that, sic stantibus, Tekneko could acquire with a little effort, but of a structural opening to private individuals who risk mortgaging the future of waste management in the Marsica.

“If there were a liberalization of the shares – Taccone emphasizes -, other players could also take over sooner or later, so it is not so obvious that everything would end up in the hands of Tekneko, which to date has shown that it has a great attention to the territory, as well as a great entrepreneurial capacity. And in the worst case scenario, there could be risks for the member municipalities, who as a minority, would no longer have the possibility to influence the governance and, I repeat, no say in the matter for example and first of all, in the determination of the tariffs, which could be increased, even more so to pay off the debt, a very probable choice, in a private logic, given that a private company legitimately acts with a view to profit”.

However, Taccone concludes realistically, “if the public sector is not able to put Aciam back on track, it will not have the capacity, grasping the capital importance of a company like this, also taking on difficult moments, at that point, in the absence of alternatives, a private sector will be welcome, which will evidently have demonstrated more foresight than the public sector”.

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